Two South Carolina men have been hit with charges spanning hate crimes and obstruction in the 2019 murder of a transgender woman, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Pebbles LaDime “Dime” Doe, a 24-year-old transgender woman, died on Aug. 4, 2019 in Allendale, South Carolina. At the time, she was the second transgender person killed in South Carolina within the span of a month.
Daqua Ritter, 26, was charged with a hate crime, accused of shooting Doe due to her “actual and perceived gender identity,” using a firearm in connection with the hate crime, and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said in a news release on the unsealed indictment.
Xavier Pinckney, 24, was charged with two obstruction offenses for providing “false and misleading” statements to authorities investigating the death, prosecutors said.
After shooting Doe, Ritter misled state investigators about his whereabouts the day of the murder, prosecutors said.
Pinckney concealed from investigators that he used his phone to call and text Doe the day of the murder, and lied to investigators about seeing Ritter the morning after the murder.
The hate crime count carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the obstruction of justice charge has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
A warrant was issued for Ritter’s arrest on Jan. 17 and he was apprehended by the FBI on Monday in New York City, court documents show. Prosecutors have requested he be transferred to the District of South Carolina to face the charges.
Pinckney was arrested Thursday, according to court records.
It’s not immediately clear if the men have attorneys.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
